Finsbury’s sales boosted by Fletchers buy

Bakery manufacturer Finsbury Food Group has reported that total sales revenue grew to £107.6m in 2014.

This equated to an increase of 24% on the previous year and represented organic growth of just over £4.9m, a rise of 5.6% on the previous year.

The Fletchers acquisition, completed at the end of October, contributed £16m of additional sales revenue. Consequently the firm’s UK bakery division grew by 27.7%, inclusive of Fletchers, with a notably strong performance from the cake division.

The overseas division, the company’s 50%-owned joint export business, also finished the first half strongly, resulting in flat sales versus the prior year and reversing the 3.1% decline reported for the first four months.

Finsbury’s strong growth was credited, in part, to new products such as a Disney Frozen cake and popular Christmas seasonal ranges and increased promotional activity. Revenue has also seen an uplift following the improvement in operational efficiencies and overhead reduction.

Growth predicted for Finsbury Food Group

The Fletchers business is now being integrated into the broader Finsbury Group. The board predicted growth for the bakery group into a multi-channel business.

John Duffy, chief executive of Finsbury Food Group, said: “The Fletchers acquisition, while still in the early stages of group integration, has shown very positive signs of growth and progress. In addition, our capital investment programme continues and has laid the foundation for the group’s positioning in a market experiencing industry-wide pressures.

“These factors, along with the benefits of being a larger, more diversified speciality bakery group underpin our belief that the group is in a strong position for the year ahead.”